The present invention relates to a method of continuously producing a carbide from an organic substance containing water.
Water-containing organic substances, such as sludge cakes or the lees of wine, spirits, and beer, are sometimes recycled as compost, or burned and subsequently buried in the ground. However, these methods of disposal have several disadvantages. For example, compost is costly to produce, because it requires an expensive deodorizing device for removing the obnoxious smell generated during the fermentation process. Furthermore, recycling this substance as compost is inefficient, because the compost only decreases the volume by about 10% to about 20%. On the other hand, burning the organic substances is costly and often not practical, because a great amount of heat is needed to burn these substances, which may contain more than 90% water. Thus, the above-mentioned substances are typically disposed of in the sea or ground without being processed at all.
It is also known to carbonize these organic substances. The conventional method carbonizes the organic substances using an incomplete combustion, or using a continuous combustion performed under 500.degree. C. However, this conventional method produces a large quantity of air-polluting and malodorous smoke, and therefore requires a device for processing the smoke. Further, the carbide thus produced by the conventional method is very volatile, and is therefore limited in its application.